It has become a custom for people throughout the world, and in particular women, to coat their fingernails with a protective or cosmetic material. The coatings include such materials as enamels or lacquers which are commonly referred to as nail polish or nail enamel. These materials most often have a select color or surface texture which is useful in providing a cosmetic appearance to the hand. The coating may be transparent however to simply provide a protective covering for the fingernail reducing the possibility of breaking, chipping or other similar damage.
Application of a fingernail coating is normally accomplished with a brush or similar type applicator. The applicator should apply the coating evenly without leaving imperfections or markings. It is also necessary for the applicator to control application of the coating so that a well-defined edge of coating material may be formed where the fingernail is bounded by the skin tissue of the finger, i.e., the cuticle.
Even with a properly designed applicator, it is a difficult task to apply smooth, well-defined coatings to ones own fingernails. This task is particularly difficult in those situations where a right handed person wishes to coat a fingernail on her right hand by using the applicator with her left hand, and vice versa. Only those few who are ambidextrous become comfortable and proficient in use of the applicator with either hand. Most do not and the results of such difficulties are often a poor quality surface finish on the fingernail coating, mistaken application of coating material to the cuticle and flesh surrounding the fingernail, or both.
Removal of an unsatisfactory fingernail coating can be as difficult, or more so, than properly applying the coating to the fingernail in the first place. Time is of the essence in that it is much easier to remove coating material before it dries. Accurate and complete removal of excess or unwanted coating material without damaging the finished fingernail coating is very difficult. Even if accomplished accurately, it may not be possible to remove all of the unwanted coating from the cuticle and flesh areas surrounding the fingernail. A residue may remain or the coating may stain the cuticle or flesh.
Furthermore, it may be necessary to utilize a chemical solvent to satisfactorily remove unwanted overages of coating material. These are generally known as coating or polish removers, in that they are utilized to remove coating material from the fingernail, cuticle and flesh area surrounding the fingernail. If one wishes to completely remove an unsatisfactory coating from a fingernail, the chemical solvent may be freely applied to the nail and the coating rubbed off with a towel, cottonball or other absorbent material. If one wishes to only remove unwanted coating material from a cuticle leaving the coating on the associated nail, special care needs to be taken to only contact the cuticle with the solvent since use of the solvent near the fingernail coating may adversely affect the surface finish or coloring of the coating as well as its marginal edge. Such care takes patience and time, commodities generally in short supply. In short, the clean-up procedure for one hand could easily be more troublesome and take a much longer time than to apply a coating to the fingernails of that hand.
Moreover, the use of chemical solvents to remove unwanted coating from the cuticle and surrounding skin tissue is not good for them, and can in fact harm them because it generally removes natural oils drying the finger skin and cuticle tissue. This can result in a reduction in the rate of growth of the fingernail below that which is normal, and cause the fingernail to become brittle and weakened permitting more easy breakage.
Thus, a need is presented for a method for easily and quickly applying a coating to ones own fingernails which eliminates problems associated with control of the application to define a precise edge of coating material along the boundary of the fingernail formed by its surrounding cuticle and skin tissue. Additionally, apparatus for performing this method in an efficient and inexpensive manner, and which reduces the required proficiency and dexterity in applying a coating to ones own fingernails, will provide a substantial benefit to those plagued with the foregoing problems. Similar needs exist for improved methods of applying coatings to ones toenails. The present invention is also directed to and provides solutions for such problems.